


Memories Frozen in Time

by Thursdays_Angel



Series: Being Human [7]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-06
Updated: 2014-08-06
Packaged: 2018-02-12 03:05:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2093274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thursdays_Angel/pseuds/Thursdays_Angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. What do they say when the subject's of the pictures don't know they're being taken? And what if one of those subjects finds the pictures after losing so much?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memories Frozen in Time

**Author's Note:**

> Part of this takes place in season 7.

            Bobby Singer liked to think himself an observant man. Smart, though not technically the kind of smarts you learned in school, and able to put two and two together very well. He was a hunter, in this job one had to be smart to survive. Sometimes though, even the smart ones bit it.

            Up until a year ago some things were clearly black and white. If something was supernatural then it was evil and you had to kill it. If someone had asked Bobby a year ago if he would ever open his home to a supernatural being the answer would have been a resounding Hell no.

            Then the angels came and things changed. Bobby watched from his desk, under pretense of doing research, as Dean tried to explain the plot of _Star Trek_ to Castiel. The angel listened intently before asking a question. Dean groaned and rubbed a hand over his face in frustration.

            Bobby reached into one of the secret, secret, compartments in his desk and pulled out his digital camera. He quickly snapped a picture of the two of them then tucked it away. He closed the door just in time to have the two of them leave the couch and walk towards him.

            “…but the love triangle—”

            “There is no love triangle Cass,” Dean said in exasperation.

            “Yet from the interactions of the Captain, Doctor and First Officer the viewer is led to believe there is one.”

            “Dude,” Dean practically yelled, “there is no love thing between them.”

            “Then Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock—”

            _“No!_ They’re not gay Cass!”

            Castiel’s head tipped in confusion. “They seemed quite happy to me Dean.”

            “What? No…” again Dean rubbed his face in frustration. “Not that kind of gay Cass. They’re not homosexual.”

            The confused expression didn’t leave the angel’s face. “And it would be a problem if they were in love?”

            “Yes! No! Ah—” Dean began to pace. “I’m not a homophobe but… um…” a blush crept up along Dean’s neck. “Isn’t it, you know, against the holy rules?”

            Bobby had to suppress his laughter while Dean floundered. It was only worse when Castiel rolled his eyes.

            “Heaven is completely indifferent to sexual orientation Dean. We have no true gender. For us love is love whether it’s a man and a woman, two men or two women. Man wrote your Bible. They misinterpreted many things.”

            “All right, fine, whatever. Completely not the point anyway.”

            “Then what is the point?”

            “That Kirk, Spock and McCoy aren’t lovers. They’re besties,” he snapped his fingers, “no, they’re brothers.”

            “They are unrelated,” Castiel pointed out.

            Dean sighed dramatically. Castiel’s eyes darted towards Bobby for a moment. The corner of his mouth lifting slightly before looking back at the younger hunter. That’s when it hit Bobby. The angel was toying with Dean. That only made Bobby want to laugh more.

            “Look, Kirk, Spock and McCoy are best friends, inseparable. Where one is you’ll generally find the other. I’m sure they all have their own lives outside each other. Hell, Kirk has a kid.”

            “A lot of people have kids and love someone other than the other parent,” Bobby said.

            “You’re not helping,” Dean growled. He turned back to Castiel. “They’re not lovers.”

            “Fine they are not lovers,” the angel conceded. “However you cannot deny the obvious sexual tension among them.”

            “ _Cass!”_

_* * *_

Bobby wheeled himself outside when he heard a car door slam. Dean and Castiel had just returned from a simple salt and burn two towns over. Dean looked oddly relaxed after returning from a hunt. There was even a smile on the younger hunters face. That was one thing he had noticed about Dean as of late. Though the devil was out and the end of the world was neigh, the boy almost always had a smile on his face. The basis of those smiles constantly came from the same source, the awkward angel made human. It was also a great cause of entertainment to watch Castiel follow Dean around like a lost puppy. Sometimes it was hard to believe Castiel was a God only knew how old celestial being. Sort of like now.

            He watched the two each pull a duffle bag from the trunk and make their way towards him. Castiel looked like he was fighting to stay awake. Then again, Bobby checked the time, it was two in the morning. Taking a closer look at Dean he saw he was just as tired but he did better at hiding it.

            “How’d it go?”

            “Great,” Dean replied.

            Castiel grumbled something as he made his way inside.

            Bobby raised an eyebrow. “What’s with him?”

            “Not used to these long hours,” Dean replied. The two entered the house and gathered in the most used room, the study.

            They both stopped short upon seeing Castiel. Apparently the angel had picked the first available spot to collapse. Which just so happened to be Bobby’s bed. He was currently dead to the world. Dean dropped his duffle by the end of the bed. “Dude, you can’t sleep here.”

            Castiel wasn’t as far gone as Bobby had thought because he groaned in protest, snuggling further into the bed.

            “Come on Cass. At least go upstairs to your own bed.”

            If Bobby hadn’t already been up with no intention of sleeping anytime soon he might have put his two cents worth in to the angel. As it was, this was just one more thing the two could entertain him with.

            Castiel curled up, and this time Bobby had to say something. “Do not put those boots in my bed.”

            There was a groan of frustration from the angel as he reached down, fumbling for a minute while he took off his boots. They fell to the floor with a dull thud. He then pulled his coat tighter around himself.

            Dean and Bobby couldn’t help but stare at the sleeping mass for a minute in a bit of disbelief. Dean ran a hand over his face. “He’s like s damn cat,” he muttered.

            Bobby shook his head. “So long as he doesn’t start clawing at the sheets then we’re fine.”

            Dean turned to him with an eyebrow raised. “You’re really just going to let him sleep here?”

            Bobby shrugged and rolled over to his desk. “I wasn’t planning on going back to bed anyway.” He opened the large book he had been looking through earlier that night.

            Dean sighed, his fatigue finally seeming to catch up with him. “You can’t sleep here Cass.” He reach out with the apparent attempt to move the mostly sleeping angel only to have said angel grab his arm instead and tug. Dean yelped as he was pulled down to the bed, his legs dangling over Castiel’s. “What the hell!” he exclaimed.

            Castiel snuggled closer to Dean, burying his face against the hunter’s shoulder. “Sleep now, move later.”

            Bobby bit the inside of his cheek to keep his smile at bay. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to keep a straight face for long so he moved away from his desk. Dean shot him a look that clearly screamed _help!_ but Bobby was already wheeling out of the room. He needed coffee and also it was an excuse to not look at Dean while he grinned. This was friggin’ priceless.

            “Bobby!”

            “You’re on your own boy. Not my problem your angel likes to cuddle.”

            Dean sputtered, “He’s not my— ow!”

            Bobby chuckled to himself as he made his coffee. One he had his cup, with a dash of Hunter’s Helper added, he made his way back to his study. He ended up slowly rolling to a stop once he caught sight of the two on the bed.

            Castiel’s head was tucked under Dean’s chin, his arms bent against his chest between Dean and himself. Dean had taken his boots off sometime while Bobby was making his coffee and had arranged his legs so that they weren’t hanging over Castiel’s. Dean’s right arm was curled around Castiel’s shoulders protectively. He could tell from their breathing that they were both in a deep sleep.

            Wheeling over to his desk he pulled out his camera once more. Out of all the pictures he had taken on the two, this one took the cake. He snapped a picture of the two, grateful that the camera didn’t make any noise as it did so. This was one he was going to have to develop multiple copies of especially if it ended up being used for another purpose. One that Bobby wasn’t above pulling out.

            Blackmail.

_* * *_

            Sam was out procuring them a new ride while Dean emptied everything they were going to need out of Baby’s trunk. All of their weapons and personal belongings were being piled up near the front of the Impala. God damn leviathans, ruin everything. As soon as they found the imposters Dean was going to rip them apart. How dare they force him to give up his Baby!

            Dean paused when he came to one item he didn’t know if he should leave behind. Bundled in a corner of the trunk above the false bottom was a bundle of dirtied tan fabric. Dean had no idea why he’d left it in the trunk. In all honesty it probably should have burned with Bobby’s house. A part of himself he didn’t want to acknowledge was glad it hadn’t.

            Heaving a weary sigh he reached in and grabbed Castiel’s coat. As much as Dean wanted to hang on to his anger at what Castiel had done, he’d found that he’d long ago forgiven the angel. No, his anger now stemmed from the fact that Castiel had yet to come back. That was why he carried the coat, he knew Cass was going to want it when he returned. Maybe Dean should wash it?

            The coat was heavier than Dean knew it should have been. Frowning and a little bit confused he pulled at the coat until it and the thing wrapped in it came closer to him. Unwrapping the fabric Dean was surprised to find a photo album. _Where the hell did this come from?_ he wondered.

            Leaning up against the rear bumper he opened the album up. The first thing he saw was a picture of his family before everything went to shit. Sammy couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old in it.

            He began to flip through the pages. The further back in the pages he got the older he and Sam appeared. There were pictures of he and Sam as kids, pictures of his dad, there were also photos of Ellen, Jo, Ash, Bobby. Dean couldn’t help but smile at some of the memories caught on film.

            His breath caught in his throat when he flipped to the next page and there was Castiel staring back up at him. A new pattern emerged as he continued to flip, all of the pictures consisted of he and Cass. Most from the brief months when the witch had cursed him to lose his powers. Each picture brought back a happy but painful memory.

            There were he and Cass arguing over the character relationships of _Star Trek._ Them working on the Mustang they had found in the Salvage Yard, talking over a couple of beers. The two of them sitting out on the porch just talking. So many memories forever caught in a moment in time. There was even the group picture they had taken the night before Ellen and Jo died. Dean had thought Bobby had burned the film too.

            His vision began to blur and Dean belatedly realized he had begun to cry. The pain of Castiel’s loss was coming back full force. He missed his angel, and he was comfortable enough to admit to himself at least that he and Castiel had belonged to each other.

            The very back of the album consisted of two pictures and a line of words written in what was distinctly Bobby’s hand writing.

            The first picture was the one Cass had drawn of his true form. The final photograph held his and Castiel’s sleeping forms. Castiel was tucked up against Dean, Dean’s chin resting atop Castiel’s head and he had an arm curled around the angel’s shoulders. It was obvious they were both fast asleep but they both looked comfortable and happy, as if they were two pieces of a puzzle that fit right together.

            The phrase was one he had heard before and it finally allowed him to briefly mourn the loss of his other half.

            _Family don’t end in blood._


End file.
